Han And Qin Dynasty

Kristian P. Granada
NS103R
The Qin Dynasty was the first ruling dynasty of Imperial
China, lasting from 221 to 206 BC. The Qin state derived
its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day
Shaanxi. The Qin's strength had been consolidated by
Lord Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the
Warring States Period. In the early third century BC, the
Qin accomplished a series of swift conquests; the state
subjugated the Chu, remnants of the Zhou Dynasty, and
various other states to gain undisputed control of China.

During its reign over China, the Qin Dynasty achieved

increased trade, improved agriculture, and military
security. This was due to the abolition of landowning
lords, to whom peasants had formerly held allegiance.
The central government now had direct control of the
masses, giving it access to a much larger workforce. This
allowed for the construction of ambitious projects, such
as a wall on the northern border, now known as the Great
Wall of China.
QIN ART

• Qin Shi Huang Di’s Tomb.

Seven hundred thousand workers, it is
said, were occupied on Shi Huang Di’s
tomb alone. The tomb was described
as a vast series of underground
palaces and pavillions. The tomb
mound was enclosed by two walls laid
out in a rectangular plan with the long
axis running north and south.
• TERRA-COTA ARMY
• The Terracotta Army literally "soldier
and horse funerary statues") or the
"Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a
collection of terracotta sculptures
depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang,
the First Emperor of China.

• The figures, dating from 210 BC, were

discovered in 1974 by some local
farmers near Xi'an, Shaanxi province,
China near the Mausoleum of the First
Qin Emperor

• The figures vary in height 1.83–1.95

metres (6.0–6.4 ft), according to their
roles, with the tallest being the generals.
The figures include warriors, chariots,
horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen,
and musicians. Current estimates are
that in the three pits containing the
Terracotta Army there were over 8,000
soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses
and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of
which are still buried in the pits.
The Terracotta Army was discovered in the
spring of 1974 in the eastern suburbs of
Xi'an, Shaanxi Province by a group of
farmers who were digging a water well 1.5
miles east of Mount Li. The region around
the mountain was riddled with underground
springs and watercourses, and every little
extra bit of water helped when it came to
irrigating fields. In 195 B.C., Liu Bang
himself — the first emperor of the dynasty
that followed the Qin — had ordered that
'twenty households' should move to the
site of the mausoleum of the First Emperor
of Qin (Qin Shi Huang, "shi huang" means
the first emperor) to watch over the tomb.
To this day, twenty villages sit in the
immediate vicinity of the mausoleum, one
of them the hamlet where the Yang family
lived; the terracotta army may have been
rediscovered by the direct descendants of
the people left to guard it. For centuries,
there were reports of pieces of terracotta
figures and fragments of the Qin necropolis
— roofing tiles, bricks, and chunks of
masonry — having been occasionally dug
up in the area.
• The Han Dynasty 206 BCE – 220 CE) was the second imperial dynasty of
China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE) and succeeded by the
Three Kingdoms (220–265 CE). It was founded by the peasant rebel leader
Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly
interrupted by the Xin Dynasty (9–23 CE) of the former regent Wang Mang.
This interregnum separates the Han into two periods: the Western Han (207
BCE – 9 CE) and Eastern Han (25–220 CE). Spanning over four centuries,
the period of the Han Dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese
history. To this day, China's majority ethnic group refers to itself as the "Han
people".

• The Han Empire was divided into areas directly controlled by the central
government, known as commanderies, and a number of semi-autonomous
kingdoms. These kingdoms gradually lost all vestiges of their independence,
particularly following the Rebellion of the Seven States. The Xiongnu, a
nomadic confederation which dominated the eastern Eurasian Steppe,[3]
defeated the Han army in battle in 200 BCE. Following the defeat, a political
marriage alliance was negotiated in which the Han became the de facto
inferior partner. When, despite the treaty, the Xiongnu continued to raid Han
borders, Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BCE) launched several military
• From the 2nd millennium BCE
nephrite jade was being traded
from mines in the region of
Yarkand and Khotan to China.
Significantly, these mines were not
very far from the lapis lazuli and
spinel ("Balas Ruby") mines in
Badakhshan and, although
separated by the formidable Pamir
Mountains, routes across them
were, apparently, in use from very
early times.
• Following contacts of metropolitan
China with nomadic western
border territories in the 8th century
BCE, gold was introduced from
Central Asia, and Hotan Kashteshi
Hotan jade carvers began to make
imitation designs of the steppes,
adopting the Scythian-style animal
art of the steppes (descriptions of
animals locked in combat). This
style is particularly reflected in the
rectangular belt plaques made of
LIU SHENG
Liu Sheng was born to Emperor Jing of Han and
Consort Jia, who also had another son, Liu
Pengzu the Prince of Zhao. He was given the fief
of Zhongshan by his father in 154 BC, and
therefore reigned in the period right after the
Rebellion of the Seven States, when the political
atmosphere was one of suspicion regarding the
feudal states. Given this atmosphere Liu Sheng
was one of the more successful feudal rulers.
• In the third year of the reign of Emperor Wu,
his younger brother, Liu Sheng and several
other princes were invited to Chang'an to
feast; at the feast Liu Sheng wept and
complained of the treatment of the feudal
princes by centrally appointed officials, who
made use of their role as monitors to
constantly trump up charges against the
princes. Impressed by this petition the
Emperor explicitly ordered that the unfair
scrutiny of the princes should stop, and Liu
Sheng became one of the most renowned of
the feudal rulers of his time.
• He was known to indulge in alcohol and
women, and is reputed to have had some
120 sons.
• Families throughout Han China
made ritual sacrifices of animals and
foodstuffs to deities, spirits, and
ancestors at temples and shrines, in
the belief that these items could be
utilized by those in the spiritual
realm. It was thought that each
person had a two-part soul: the
spirit-soul (hun 魂 ) which journeyed
to the afterlife paradise of immortals
(xian), and the body-soul (po 魄 )
which remained in its grave or tomb
on earth and was only reunited with
the spirit-soul through a ritual
ceremony. In addition to his many
other roles, the emperor acted as the
highest priest in the land who made
sacrifices to Heaven, the main
deities known as the Five Powers,
and the spirits (shen 神 ) of
mountains and rivers. It was
believed that the three realms of
Heaven, Earth, and Mankind were
linked by natural cycles of yin and
yang and the five phases. If the
emperor did not behave according
to proper ritual, ethics, and morals,
he could disrupt the fine balance of
 Han dynasty’s artworks
BRONZE AND POTTERY OBJECTS